Pages

Friday, December 16, 2011

Deja Vu Blogfest

"Feels like deja vu."

"What?"

"Feels like deja vu...."

Welcome to the Deja Vu Blogfest! If you're new to this site, welcome! I'm Sandra, an indie SF/Fantasy writer. Please look around the blog to learn more about me and my SF novella, Lyon's Legacy. I can't resist a plug: my novella is on sale this month for $0.99 at Amazon, B&N, and Smashwords.

Anyway, below is one of my favorite blog posts. It's part of the blog chain I belong to, and it was originally posted in March 2010.

Back on the Blog Chain: Holding out for a Hero(ine)

Yep, the Blog Chain post is making its first appearance on my blog this month. Eric posed this question:

Do you create characters that are larger-than-life or are your characters more like the average Joe?

(For discussion purposes, let's use his definition of "larger-than-life" as meaning exceptionally talented. It doesn't have to be a supernatural talent--an Olympic athlete would be larger-than-life.)

In his book Characters and Viewpoint, Orson Scott Card discusses how these two types of characters go in and out of fashion. Most of my esteemed fellow Blog Chainers, from Eric to Kate, have been on the side of the average Joe or Jane. I think some of this is due to genre. A few people admit their characters have a slight supernatural twist, but for the most part, larger-than-life characters are considered too perfect, too hard to relate to, or even too cliched. We're at the end of the chain now, and there's only one person left to champion the champions: a short, overweight, almost-middle-aged speculative fiction writer. In other words, me.

Let's cue some music for our discussion:

Most of my protagonists have had some extraordinary gift. My first two books featured magicians, as does my short story "A Reptile at the Reunion." My NaNoWriMo book from 2007 had a pair of shapeshifting sisters. Paul, the hero of Across Two Universes, lives in a science fiction universe, but he has a "quantum quirk" of his own. The only protagonist who might be considered an "ordinary Jane" is Paul's mother, Joanna, in my novella "Move Over Ms. L." So, how do I avoid the previously mentioned pitfalls of larger-than-life characters?

First of all, I don't think a larger-than-life character is necessarily perfect--or should be. Many legendary characters had flaws as big as their virtues. Hercules was very strong, but he wasn't above using dirty tricks in battle. Lancelot was in love with his liege's wife. Modern-day larger-than-life athletes like Michael Phelps and Tiger Woods have shown what I'll call lapses of judgment. Even my beloved Beatles have done drugs, had affairs, made poor business decisions, and otherwise proved they're not perfect. Having an extraordinary talent doesn't mean you're invincible either; just look at Achilles and Samson. I could go on, but the point I want to make is that the larger-than-life characters may be good at what they do, but if they're too good, then the story loses any suspense factor. Struggle is at the heart of all stories, so your characters have to face challenges that force them to stretch themselves. Heck, much of the time my characters struggle just to get along with their allies!

Another concern writers have about writing larger-than-life characters is how to make sure the average reader can relate to them. It's not as if most of us turn into animals every full moon or perform magic and read others' minds. Here, I think the key is to focus on emotions or experiences that can be universal. Many larger-than-life characters in speculative fiction face problems readers can relate to; for example, Carrie Vaughn's werewolf Kitty has a mother dealing with cancer. A classic Star Trek episode, "The Devil in the Dark," features an alien that's basically a sentient rock. Yet this creature is also a mother trying to protect her young. How can any parent not relate to that? If you can relate to a rock, magicians and other larger-than-life characters ought to be easy.

As for whether or not larger-than-life characters are cliche, I think anything can become one. It's not always easy to find a unique spin on a subject, but it can be done.

Going back to Eric's question, why do I prefer larger-than-life characters? Part of the reason is escapism and wish fulfillment. I live in Midwestern suburbia, and I like taking mental breaks from it with my fiction. Having high-powered characters means you can demand more of them; they buy you a seat at the high-stakes plot table. But there are other reasons for enjoying larger-than-life characters and speculative fiction. By looking at the extremes of the human condition (or even examining non-humans), we can learn something about the ordinary parts too. And while ordinary characters in extraordinary situations can do astonishing things, extraordinary people can inspire us to transcend the commonplace and reach for something we never thought possible. Our future depends on how far we can see and our drive to try new things. If we work at it, what was once considered extreme or even impossible can become part of our mundane reality.

I hope you enjoyed that blast from the past! I expect to be busy at work today, so it may take me a few days to visit all the participants in this blog fest. I'm also going to cut back my blogging schedule during the holidays. At this point, I'm not sure how often I'll post. Enjoy your weekend, everyone, and see you soon!

7 comments:

Thanks for this post! I agree with all your points. I've been told that if you have a character with amazing powers, you just have to give them incredibly difficult circumstances and obstacles to overcome, and then readers will still relate to them. If we weren't allowed to write about larger-than-life characters, sci-fi and fantasy probably wouldn't exist!

I don't think my characters are either, really. Mostly, they're people without special powers who are caught up in extraordinary circumstances. They usually have some talent or strong will, but nothing that sets them apart that clearly. This is such an interesting post, and a great choice to re-post! Nice meeting you, Sandra.

Site Meter

About Me

QA rep by day, loving wife and mom by night.
Somewhere in there I write science fiction/fantasy and indie publish it. My short story, "A
Reptile at the Reunion," was published in the Firestorm of Dragons
anthology June 2008. My indie works include the SF Catalyst Chronicles series (currently available: Lyon's Legacy, "The Mommy Clone", and Twinned Universes), the Season Avatars series (Seasons' Beginnings, with Scattered Seasons due in spring 2015) and several unrelated fantasy short stories. Lyon's Legacy, Twinned Universes, and Seasons' Beginnings are available in paper and eBook formats; my other short stories are all eBooks.

About This Blog

As a science fiction/fantasy author, I discuss topics such as science, writing science fiction/fantasy, indie-publishing, books, and authors. On a personal note, I also blog about my family and the Beatles. I usually post three times a week. A recurring topic is Science of the Week on Fridays, though sometimes it's preempted.

Although I'm not comfortable reviewing books, I am willing to host author interviews and participate in blog tours. Please e-mail me at ulbrichalmazanATsbcglobalDOTnet.

Permafree Science Fiction!

Clones, time travel, and rock-n-roll!

Permafree Fantasy!

Prequel to the Season Avatars series

Join my newsletter!

Receive a free copy of Scattered Seasons by following the link (click the cover).